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Sports Reporter

ZIMBABWE’S Gems return to action this afternoon when they take on South Africa in their second match at the ongoing Spar Diamond Challenge in Pretoria, South Africa.

The Zimbabwe senior netball team went down 50-55 to South Africa’s invitational President’s XII in their opening encounter on Tuesday.

Going into today’s match, Zimbabwe will be missing goal shooter Sharon Bwanali, who has been ruled out of the game because of an injury.

However, coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki is hoping for an improved performance.

“Our shooting was the setback, it didn’t work out as we expected. So it’s another area we are going to work on.

“The situation was made worse when Sharon Bwanali got injured, it affected our game but overall the team played well.

“We are expecting a better performance today. We are facing South Africa, just like yesterday it was a South African team. So we have to work hard because we are benefiting from this. For them (South Africa), they may feel they are not benefiting but for us we are benefiting a lot,” said Mutsauki.

They are using the tournament as part of their preparations for the 2023 World Cup.